GPS units and GR-Level III

[mpearce]

- Verizon is among the best runnin...]https://www.maximumsignal.net/store/home.php

Terry,

Thanks for the great reply, and providing the links. All very helpful. So which one of the amp/antenna combos do you use? The amp/antenna connects to your Verizon USB card? Or does it just amplify the reception of your USB card? Ive never seen any of this stuff, so I'm just having trouble figuring it all out, and picturing how it works.

Thanks again!

-Mat

 

[Terry Tyler]

Terry,

Thanks for the great reply, and providing the links. All very helpful. So which one of the amp/antenna combos do you use? The amp/antenna connects to your Verizon USB card? Or does it just amplify the reception of your USB card? Ive never seen any of this stuff, so I'm just having trouble figuring it all out, and picturing how it works.

Thanks again!

-Mat

Check this one out Mat, see what you think about it.

- https://www.maximumsignal.net/store/product.php?productid=16175&cat=6&page=1

The price seems to have come down almost $100 from when i was last looking at it. Basically, there are a couple different 'kits' to choose from. You must match the kit that suits your data card. You buy it, it ships and your good to go. I was amazed at how simple setting this up was. When you think about it, and never tried your hand at it. It may seem intimidating, but its about as straight forward as you can get.

As far as amplification is concerned, ill put it to you like this. It makes the difference between constantly bouncing in and out of EVDO-1XRTT and having a strong, stable 4-bar Rev. A connection. The last three chases i went on with the antenna/amp i did not lose signal at all. Even in very remote and hilly areas. When you work your way up to streaming video, and running news streams in your vehicle. Its crucial to have a strong link. Its one of the most important tools in my arsenal.

There are others here far more qualified then me who im sure can help you out. If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me.

- Terry

 

[Wes Carter]

If I use Delorme Earthmate LT-40 GPS software...don't use the Delorme puck receiver because of the added hastle of having to "also" run the emulator program. Instead...use the Globalsat BU353 puck receiver with the Delorme GPS software, and run that on top of my GRLevel3 weather radar.

Is that right?

-Mat

Pretty much yes. I use the DeLorme mapping software, just because I have it. Microsoft Streets and Trips is good also. Either one will work with either puck to the best of my knowledge.

My main point is this: the DeLorme puck requires an additional piece of software, DeLorme Serial Port Emulator. The BU353 does not require anything like that. It communicates with Franson GPS Gate.

Here is my old setup: DeLorme LT-20 ---> DeLorme Serial Emulator ---> Franson GPS Gate ---> [GRLevel3][Spotter Network][DeLorme Street Atlas USA]

Here is my new setup: Globalsat BU353 ---> Franson GPS Gate ---> [GRLevel3][Spotter Network][DeLorme Street Atlas USA]

It allowed me to eliminate the extra piece of software. It just simplified everything. I'm taking both pucks with me because my new setup is still untested, but from what I've read in other threads others seem to have good luck with it. Maybe someone who uses a similar configuration can chime in. I had trouble a couple of times getting my software to see the GPS data with my old setup. I'm hoping (and optimistic) the new setup will work better. So far it all communicates flawlessly.

 

[Mark Blue]

Here's an old thread I took part in earlier this year that may be worth looking through:

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=19520

There were several folks who experienced troubles, but most of that was with 64 bit systems. I thought this would be worth mentioning since a lot of information was brought forth in the old thread.

 

[mpearce]

Microsoft Streets and Trips is good also.

Wes,

Will Microsoft Streets and Trips work with the GRLevel3 also? I don't plan on running anything but the GPS (MS Streets & Trips), and the GRLevel3. If I'm only running those two programs, will I need the Franson GPSGate also?

I've never seen any of this in action...so I'm guessing the GPS software is overlayed onto the GRLevel3 radar display? Has anyone ever posted a picture of what this looks like?

-Mat

 

[Dean Baron]

Streets and Trips will work with GR3. But to run both at the same time you need a GPS splitter. GPS Gate is about the best around.

 

[mpearce]

Streets and Trips will work with GR3. But to run both at the same time you need a GPS splitter. GPS Gate is about the best around.

Ok great...thanks Dean. I need the GPSGate Standard...correct? http://franson.com/gpsgate/purchase.asp?license=standard&platform=winxp

Hope to get all of this up and running within the next month or so. Hope it all goes smoothly.

It looks like as of right now I'll be using

GRLevel3
MS Streets & Trips
Franson GPSGate
Globalsat BU 353
Verizon Air Card with amp/antenna kit

All on a laptop using windows Vista.

Does this recepie sound like it should work ok?

-Mat

 

[Dean Baron]

Ok great...thanks Dean. I need the GPSGate Standard...correct? http://franson.com/gpsgate/purchase.asp?license=standard&platform=winxp

Hope to get all of this up and running within the next month or so. Hope it all goes smoothly.

It looks like as of right now I'll be using

GRLevel3
MS Streets & Trips
Franson GPSGate
Globalsat BU 353
Verizon Air Card with amp/antenna kit

All on a laptop using windows Vista.

Does this recepie sound like it should work ok?

-Mat

Yep, the standard is what you want. And your setup should be fine with the splitter.

 

[JeffGonzales]

Thanks for the reply! But, which GPS? Or does it matter? From what I gather, the Globalsat BU353 is the USB cable and puck only, right? Will this work with Garmin, or Delorme? Which GPS software are you using?

The Globalsat BU353 is the USB cable connected to the actual GPS unit. The software come with it to install it

 

[dmckemy]

I apologize for bringing back an old thread (well, I guess it's not all that old, but I didn't want to start a new one), but I had another question. One of my friends had DeLorme Street Atlas 2007 and is letting me borrow it for the time being, and I've installed all of the software that comes with it and have hooked up the GPS to my computer. However, whenever I go File -> GPS -> Start on GRLevel3, nothing shows up in the COM port...I made sure the GPS was getting a signal and everything seems to be working just fine, but for whatever reason I can't get it pulled up on GRLevel3. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Skip Talbot]

I assume you are using the puck that comes with Street Atlas? This GPS is not natively compatible with Grlevel3 as it doesn't create a NMEA COM port when its plugged in. You need to download the Delorme Serial Emulator:
http://www.delorme.com/support/supporttemplate.aspx?id=319
This will create the COM port you need to run in GrLevel3. Also keep in mind that you need a way to split the COM ports so you can use them in multiple applications such as Franson GPSGate as mentioned above. You might also want to look at getting a new GPS puck like one of the Globalsat's mentioned above. Delorme's puck, at least the old ones, were a real pain in the neck to work with and that serial emulator software is really flakey (works half the time).

 

[Marcus Hicks]

I have the Delorme Lt-20 only using the Delorme Serial Emulator with no issues splitting the signal.

 

[dmckemy]

I downloaded the Serial Emulator using the link you provided, and was able to install and the run the program just fine. I set up the NMEA ports and have GRLevel3 connected to the port, however, nothing happens....What I did was right clicked on the Serial Emulator icon, selected the NMEA port I wanted (which in my case was COM2), and then I went onto GRLevel3, selected COM2 for the GPS, but nothing shows up on the screen...the GPS has a signal and seems to be working just fine (it's showing up on DeLorme Street Atlas), but it doesn't show up on GRLevel3...is there something I have to do to the Atlas program as well to make it work?

 

[Skip Talbot]

I don't run that software anymore so I don't know if I can help you further with it. What I might suggest trying next though is to download Franson GPSGate. They have a free trial on their site. Open up COM2 in GPSGate and see if you are getting valid data through it, and then try creating additional virtual COM ports through GPSGate and see if those work with GrLevel3.

 

[Marcus Hicks]

I'm using com 5 and no issues. Try using a different com port